The Only Chance in This Life

After the Chinese New Year, everyone gradually returned to their original posts, and Silent Media was no exception.

Bai Qiquan and his girlfriend went to meet his parents. At his age, he had just graduated and started working. He didn't have a car or a house, so meeting his parents was a bit too hasty.

But Lu Ban gave just too much.

After receiving his bonus, which amounted to several months' salary, Bai Qiquan suddenly realized that the biggest obstacle preventing him from buying a house and settling down was his three years of social security contributions!

Of course, even so, I was still very nervous about meeting the parents.

However, the tension only lasted for a short while. After having a couple of drinks with his father-in-law, Bai Qiquan felt that there was nothing to be afraid of anymore.

Back in Jiangcheng, on the first day back to work after the New Year, Lu Ban followed tradition and gave out red envelopes to mark the start of the new year.

After distributing the red envelopes, Lu Ban clapped his hands and gathered the employees together.

"Everyone, after such a long break, we now have a new job to do."

Lu Ban said.

Upon hearing this, the employees looked at each other in bewilderment.

"The Demon Tide" has only been off the screens for a little over a month, how come there's something new out there?

Is it an advertisement or a short video?

"It's a new movie."

Lu Ban didn't keep them in suspense; he went Door Opening.

Upon hearing this, Bai Qiquan was taken aback, and his first thought was—was another bonus coming?

"Boss, you're incredibly efficient!"

"So, you don't take any holidays at all?"

"Boss, treat yourself better. You're still young, you should enjoy life more!"

"Boss, I think we're already pretty good enough, we don't need to work so hard!"

Instead, the employees advised Lu Ban not to be in such a hurry.

Bai Qiquan thought about it for a moment and it seemed to make sense.

If Lu Ban can finish a movie in a month and a half, then he can finish one in four weeks tomorrow. If he keeps working non-stop, it is entirely possible for him to finish four or five movies a year.

For these people, two movies a year is already quite saturated, three is considered overtime, and four or five is practically exploitation!

Moreover, under normal circumstances, they don't have very high requirements for every film they do post-production work on. Some are just done quickly and easily. It's common for them to spend one hour at work chatting for nine hours.

But Lu Ban's movies, even if they're not world-class, are still highly anticipated and can't tolerate the slightest carelessness, which means they have to be fully committed to their work.

Given the subject matter of Lu Ban's films, if he continues like this, he might have to retire in less than two years!

Anyone who has worked knows that if your colleague is pushing you too hard, that's their fault, or your boss is exploiting you. But if your boss is working even harder than you, that's really a problem.

"Don't worry, this time our film is a heartwarming and healing art film, so the workload won't be too heavy."

Lu Ban could see the worries of these people.

"Moreover, our goal is not box office revenue, but winning awards."

"Win an award? What kind of award?"

Bai Qiquan was puzzled.

"Win whatever awards you can."

Lu Ban took out a piece of paper and glanced at it.

"Let's set a small goal first, which is the Palme d'Or this May."

"???"

Several question marks appeared above the heads of those present.

"Boss, the Palme d'Or, you mean that Palme d'Or?"

Someone asked.

"What are you doing here?"

Lu Ban asked a question in return, and then spoke.

"The Palme d'Or in May, the Golden Bear in June, and the Golden Lion in August are the current priority awards."

"."

The employees present were speechless.

If Lu Ban were a newcomer, people would probably just laugh it off, thinking Lu Ban was joking or being arrogant.

However, Lu Ban was already a successful director.

His works have reached the top five box office rankings in film history, making him the top commercially successful artist in China and renowned worldwide.

These words, spoken by him, seemed to have a certain flavor to them.

"Boss, are you serious?"

Some employees asked tentatively.

Why would I lie to you?

Lu Ban found it strange.

"But, uh, boss, I think it's necessary to remind you that so far, no film has been able to win all three awards at the same time; the most any film has ever won is two."

In the early years, the judges of the three major film festivals would exchange information. Sometimes, a very good film would be nominated by all three festivals. Although it was rare for a film to win awards at two festivals at the same time, it did happen.

Later, the three major film festivals gradually began to differentiate themselves, and their respective judges would sometimes deliberately avoid works that had won awards at other film festivals in order to highlight the characteristics of their respective festivals.

The Grand Slam that people talk about most now is the Grand Slam of actors or directors. For example, there are actresses in China who have won major awards at the three major film festivals with three films, thus achieving the Grand Slam.

Therefore, anyone with even a little knowledge of film festival judging would realize just how outrageous Lu Ban's statement is.

Normally, at this point, one should start to question Lu Ban, feeling that Lu Ban asking for an exorbitant amount and that he has become arrogant.

Indeed, that's the first reaction many employees have.

But.

But this is Lu Ban.

Lu Ban, who said he would top the global box office for a month and actually did, did top the box office for a month.

He created a miracle.

Maybe this time too?

Suddenly, the employees' enthusiasm returned.

If we can really achieve this goal.

No, let alone that goal, just winning any award would make me a figure in film history.

Many people who dedicate themselves to the film industry have a desire to make a film that will go down in history and be included in textbooks, but due to the pressure of life and the hardships of the industry, they can only waste their time at home.

Now, they must consider whether this is their only chance in this lifetime.

Honestly, the temptation is quite strong.

"Wait a minute, boss, the film festival is in May, so we need to submit the film by the end of March at the very least. It's already halfway through February, isn't the timeframe a bit tight?"

Even art films take a long time to shoot. In fact, it is precisely because they are art films that the acting skills required of the actors are even higher. Every glance is full of emotion.

Casting, script finalization, filming, post-production—a little over a month is simply not enough time.

It's impossible that Lu Ban went somewhere and filmed a new movie during this month-long holiday when everyone was on vacation, right?

Everyone looked at each other, then turned to look at Lu Ban.

Really?

"Let me show you some clips first, so you can get a feel for the tone."

Lu Ban didn't hide anything.

He led everyone to the screening room and then pulled up a short clip of scenery Harmony Island that he had randomly selected earlier.

In the darkness, Bai Qiquan saw the screen suddenly light up.

The spring breeze seemed to overflow from the screen as it rushed towards us.

He saw the cherry blossoms falling.

Thanks to "Yan Mian" for the 3000-coin reward, thank you to "Sky Master" for the 1733-coin reward, thank you to "MARiA Highest", "RedWorld" and "Lion and Shooter" for the 500-coin reward, thank you to "Xiyan Sanqian" for the 240-coin reward, and thank you to "Shimada Tire" and "1 Dazhi 1" for the 100-coin reward!